ForeFlight announced today the availability of digital navigation charts and information for Canada. The complete set of NAV CANADA charts is optimized for display on the iPad and provides pilots mobile access to Visual Navigation Charts (VNC), Visual Terminal Area Charts (VTA), and the Canadian Flight Supplement (CFS).
"We are happy and fortunate to have expanded our relationship with NAV CANADA to provide pilots digital access to Canadian aeronautical information and charting products via ForeFlight Mobile," says Tyson Weihs, CEO of ForeFlight. "Pilots who use digital charting report that chart updates are simpler, locating airport and navigation information is faster, and the overall simplicity of a paperless cockpit makes flying more enjoyable."
ForeFlight Mobile – ForeFlight's flagship aviation app – provides pilots flight-planning capabilities; pre-flight weather information including METARs, TAFs, and radar from Environment Canada; and, in-flight access to navigation charts, weather, and moving map capabilities. In addition to the aeronautical products required for flight in instrument meteorological conditions, the latest version of the popular app for iPad and iPhone now includes NAV CANADA aeronautical information and navigation products essential for planning flights in or flying Canada in visual meteorological conditions.
Pilots using the NAV CANADA digital charts available via ForeFlight Mobile will also benefit from a unique set of features designed to enhance chart readability and deliver fast chart updates. ForeFlight now delivers the ability to dynamically hide or show chart margins, and change the stacking of charts so that the most current chart information is visible. Only charts that have changed are downloaded, reducing chart download times. These capabilities are made possible by packaging the charts in the Flight Bag Tiles ("FBTiles") database format, an open database specification invented by ForeFlight for packaging geo-referenced charts for use in mobile, desktop, and web applications.
"ForeFlight's application – the first to deliver authorized digital VNCs to Canada – provides our customers with a great option for user-friendly and accurate access to aeronautical information on a popular platform," said Andy Campbell, Vice President, Customer and Commercial Services at NAV CANADA. "NAV CANADA and the ForeFlight team worked closely to enable the delivery of this new product while ensuring that quality standards were maintained."
